


Family Unit

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, BAMF Stiles, Canon Divergent, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Hale-McCall Pack, Humor, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Pack Bonding, Pack Cuddles, Pack Dad Derek Hale, Pack Dynamics, Pack Family, Pack Mom, Pack Mother Stiles Stilinski, Pack Piles, Puppy Piles, Road Trips, Sterek Bingo 2017, Stiles Stilinski Is So Done, Stiles Takes Care Of The Pack, Supernatural Convention, Werewolf Conferences & Conventions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 10:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11011467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: So werewolf symposiums are a thingThat's a thing that exists, it's happening, it's in the world nowAnd Stiles doesn't know what in the name of hell he did to deserve this("It's a mixed supernatural convention Stiles, not a 'werewolf symposium'!"")





	Family Unit

**Author's Note:**

> Pack Mom Stiles is by far one of my FAVORITE tropes- but only when it's done right, IE: "I am so tired of babysitting you children you littl- DON'T YOU ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME AND FOR GOD'S SAKE IT'S DECEMBER SO PUT ON A JACKET!!! Also if you come anywhere near my pack I'll disembowel you", so I love writing it, but I fully credit the sheer LENGTH of this fic to THIS. GLORIOUS VIDEO. I FOUND. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgEl4Tj2V4Q
> 
> The full version of the song is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXgoJ0f5EsQ and I laughed so hard ... so freaking hard... I wrote this in about five hours and I laughed during each and every one of them because of this, because not only is it TRUE, but it's also Stiles all over the place
> 
> I also am a FIRM believer in the fact that BAMF!Stiles is what makes Pack Mom Stiles possible, it's because he's a badass who tangles with werewolves and doesn't mind cracking skulls open that he's the one taking care of all of these hooligans in the first place so ALL of my Pack Mom Stiles fics will always be BAMF Stiles as well

So werewolf symposiums are a thing

That's a thing that exists, it's happening, it's in the world now

And Stiles doesn't know what in the name of hell he did to deserve this

"Is this seriously necessary?"

"It's pretty necessary," Derek replied blandly

"Why was it never necessary before?" he asked with a suspicious huff

"It _was_ , I've been going alone every year that I could, I just haven't been asking you guys to come with me because A. You're usually up to your necks in life-threatening situations, B. You have enough stress to kill a herd of elephants as it is, and C. I knew Scott wouldn't want to,"

Stiles glanced over his shoulder at Scott, who looked like someone had just peed in his cereal and then poured it over his head, and then stared back at Derek

"Oh yeah, he looks like he's excited to be going now,"

"The difference is he doesn't have a choice now, he _has_ to go, it's no longer possible to keep all of you under the radar, you've made too big of an impression on the supernatural world,"

"Is that..... good or bad?"

"It's... neutral, mostly, I tried to keep you all out of the limelight because it's alot to deal with for teenagers but now that you're adults.... you need to do this, these conventions are important, it's a way to build connections, find allies, be involved with the community.... these connections are important, they can be the difference between fighting alone and fighting with an army, if it weren't for these conventions Laura and I never would have found a safe place to move to in New York, not to mention all of the panels and workshops that have a ton of important information you could use,"

Stiles gave a slow nod, crossing his arms over his chest in consideration, that made sense he supposed....

"Ok, I guess that makes sense, so.... we're going on a five-hour road trip with fourteen other people- who we'll also be sharing hotel rooms with- to a werewolf symposium and then- because I'm _stupid_ , to Disneyland, is that about right?"

"It's not a werewolf symposium Stiles, it's a _mixed-supernatural convention_ , but other than that.... pretty much,"

"You also promised us Seaworld," Malia noted suddenly, causing Stiles to jump and turn around to face her

"What the- ... where did you...!?"

"And the beach," she added

"When did I say that!?"

"You promised us 'a vacation' for the rest of the week, we're not spending five days at Disneyland so the rest of us worked out a plan, you can see the journal if you want,"

Stiles' eye started to twitch, lip trembling as Malia walked off to talk to Lydia about God only knows what and leaving him in a state of disrepair

"I tried to tell you not to promise them anything," Derek sighed

"They wouldn't stop screaming! What was I supposed to do!?"

"I _told_ you to just say you were going to give them a 'surprise' after the convention to shut them up, but you _had_ to use the word 'vacation',"

"Who's side are you even _on_ Hale!?"

"Your side- ALWAYS your side- but I did tell you so,"

Stiles just heaved a long, loud sigh, tossing his head back in frustration

"Stiles, just blow the wistle already so we can get moving,"

Stiles gave a slow- albeit annoyed- nod and blew the wistle Derek had given him, effectively halting all of the conversations going on between the rest of the pack

"Alright listen up! We're traveling in two eight-seated vans, Derek and I are driving, we're going to a flip a coin and then decide who goes in who's car, ofcourse since Parrish is running late he'll go with whoever has a seat left at the end of this,"

"What is this? Third-grade dodgeball?" Liam frowned

"Would you rather draw straws?" Derek provided

The look on the beta's face was enough of an answer

"Alright, I'm calling it, I want heads," Stiles said as Derek took the quarter out of his pocket and flipped it

It landed on tails

"Aw man...."

"Don't you know to always choose tails?" Derek teased

"Yeah well, I was trying to give you better odds, you know, be a good boyfreind, let you have your choi-"

"Kira,"

"Seriously Hale!? You barely know her compared to the rest of them!"

Derek glanced over at his boyfreind with an entirely deadpanned expression

"Exactly,"

Stiles bit his lip, glaring as Kira made her way over to stand next to Derek's van

Stiles had wanted Kira in _his_ car

Not only was she one of the only well-behaved people involved in this crap but she was also his best way of keeping Scott busy the entire ride there....

He had to play his next move smartly, Derek was looking for a calm, peacefull car and Stiles was _not_ going to get stuck with all the heathens!

"Lydia," he finally called, trying to ignore the offended look on Scott's face

_"DUDE!"_

That, however, he could _not_ ignore

"Scotty, believe me, Derek's not going to put you in his car- two Alphas in one place is a _hideously_ bad idea,"

So Derek was an Alpha again and _**THAT**_ was a long story that Stiles was not going to dwell on right now

"I had to get Lydia wile I could!" he insisted

Scott, if possible, only looked more put-out by all of this than he did before

"Mason," Derek called suddenly

"What the hell man?! You know him even less than Kira!!!"

"And yet somehow I can spot a quiet, polite person when I see one," Derek replied dryly

Well there went his second choice....

Stiles considered going for Corey, but figured it'd just be cruel to keep him away from Mason

"Alright, Scotty, you're up,"

Scott made his way over to Stiles, still looking partly offended that he wasn't chosen first

"Corey,"

Stiles knew that was going to happen

"You know, I'm right here," Cora huffed

"I do know, I also know you're a backseat driver, so I repeat- Corey,"

As the options for calm, peacefull people dwindled, Stiles suddenly started having what he could only believe were divine visions of his slow and impending death via road rage

 

~+~

 

Sometimes Stiles _really_ hated his life choices

He should have reserved Parrish, to be honest, since of-freaking-COURSE he would get there right after Stiles' third turn and Derek would snap up the only other non-teenager in the group

Somehow he had gotten stuck with most of the louder, more ... _temperamental_ people no matter how hard he tried not to

His car ended up with the following: Lydia, Scott, Allison, Hayden, Liam, Malia, and Erica

He just needed to get through this trip without losing his mind, that was all, if he could just do that-

_"Hey Stiles, pick up,"_

Stiles reached into the cup holder, pulling out the walkie-talkie and pressing the button on it

"Hey babe, what's going on?"

_"There have been some requests for food, do your kids want something to eat yet?"_

Before Stiles could even reply, there were already responses coming from the people around him

"I could eat," Malia said immediately

"Me too," Scott chirped in

"I could go for a buffet," Liam added

"Did ANY of you just eat before we left like I told you to?" Stiles huffed

"I did," Lydia hummed as she stared down at her nails

"I did, I'm just hungry again," Liam pouted

"Me too," Malia added

Stiles heaved a sigh, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this without agreeing to what they wanted

"Any idea where we can get food from?" Stiles asked into the walkie-talkie

_"There's a gas station on the next exit and there are some fast food joints right around there, I need to pull off to refill the tank anyway so that should work fine,"_

Stiles glanced down at the gas meter and grimaced, heaving a quiet sigh

"Sounds like a plan,"

He just hoped that this would be the only detour required during this trip

 

~+~

 

"Ok, let's get one thing perfectly straight before anyone brings food into this car- Nothing that requires utensils to eat, nothing that requires dipping, all drinks will have lids, and I swear to God if anything sticks, drips, sloshes, drops, or spills in this car whoever is responsible is coughing up their tuition to pay for it,"

Admittedly, it may not have been the best idea to come on that strongly, there were atleast three people in this car staring at him as if he had just issued them a _challenge_ and frankly it scared the hell out of him

"Oh shoot, there went my plans for a salad with extra dressing and a lidless milkshake," Erica said sarcastically

"Who died and made this your car?" Malia huffed back

"It's my DAD'S rental ok? My. DAD'S. If I ruin it he's going to hang me up like a pinata! Do you know how much begging and convincing I had to do to get him to rent it for me in the first place? I'm serious!! Not a SPOT of damage on this thing when we haul it back to Beacon Hills!!"

Stupid 25-year-old rental limit....

His father had more reluctance in renting this car than he had had in letting Stiles have his credit card unsupervised last Christmas...

"Stiles, just relax ok? Everybody is going to behave, no one is going to ruin the car, I promise," Scott said calmly

He was one to talk, Stiles still remembered the road trip they took when they were fourteen and how Scott had been single-handedly responsible for spilling both of their milkshakes in the back of the car

(Somehow his father had still managed to blame Stiles for that and he maybe still held a tiny bit of a grudge over it but that's beside the point, the point was, Scott should not be the one to make that kind of promise)

"Take a breath, I'll watch them," Lydia teased as she opened the car door

"I hope you mean that!" Stiles shouted after her, feeling the color drain from his face as everyone else started flooding out

Lydia was really the only person other than Derek that Stiles trusted to appreciate the severity of this entire thing and actually keep the others in line

He heaved a sigh, stepping out of the car and spotting Derek a few feet away, grabbing his wallet as he shut the door and turned towards the last person out of the van

"Alright, just don't forget my food, and please, try to keep it under a hundred bucks," he said with a heavy sigh as he handed Malia his debit card

"Yeah, sure," she snorted back, plucking the card out of his hand before heading off towards the others, who were already starting towards the fast food place next door

"I gurantee you she's going to bankrupt me," Stiles said dryly

"Don't worry, I'll reimburse you," Derek said with a teasing grin

"I would have given her my card but I have to use it for the gasoline,"

"Yeah I know," Stiles replied with a long and low sigh

"You ok...?" Derek asked worriedly

"Yeah yeah I'm fine, just.... I don't know, it's weird, our first and last summer vacation together and ofcourse it's going to a werewolf convention,"

"It's... a mixed supernatural convention," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose

"My POINT is ..... I don't like this, I... I guess it sounds really childish but I want more time with everyone, I don't want to wake up in a couple of months and find everyone gone..."

"It isn't childish Stiles, it's more than reasonable to be upset, to miss everyone.... you ARE speaking to an Alpha wolf remember? I'm .. struggling with this empty nest thing too, believe me, but it isn't like we'll never see them again, they'll be back for holidays, summers, some weekends.... and college won't last forever, just give it a few years and everyone will be back for good,"

"Will they? Or will everyone split up again? Cora back in South America, Scott at some giant vet hospital somewhere, Lydia in Washington or Atlanta or something making an enormous stride in ... whatever... Erica in Italy being a fashion model or something,"

"Where are you even getting that from?" Derek frowned

"I don't know I just... I just hate it Derek, I feel like I finally have this, finally have my pack together and in one peice and it'll only last for a couple of months and that's KILLING me inside,"

Derek frowned, setting the gas pump back into the machine and putting both hands on his boyfreind's shoulders

"Stiles, listen to me, everything will be fine, I swear it, they won't be gone forever, your pack is still going to be here with you I promise, and you still have Liam and his freinds for now, isn't Malia just going to community college anyway? She'll be around, you know that, Parrish too, and with the rate things are going, who knows when you might end up with even more pack members? I know it hurts but it WILL get better and they WILL come back, I promise,"

Derek knew something about people not coming back, Stiles was perfectly aware of that much

Derek had suffered more loss- more people being gone for good- than anyone but.... somehow it still didn't make him feel much better

Stiles was staying in Beacon Hills because it was where he belonged, because the thought of leaving for college made him double over and want to puke, and because he and Derek had worked out the perfect plan of opening up a private detective office- specializing in the weird events their stupid town had to offer- and it..

It felt good

It was the first career path that had ever TRULY made sense to him, that ever felt RIGHT, and he was happy about that

But he couldn't help feeling like he was watching everyone around him leave and that just... killed him....

"And you still have me," Derek noted quietly, belatedly, as if he hadn't even considered that that might help Stiles until now

But it did

Because Derek had left plenty of times before but he always came back, and he had promised this time never to leave again and that....

That was good

"I know," Stiles said quietly, wrapping his arms around the werewolf's neck and giving him a tight, tight hug

"I know... thanks..."

He heard someone clearing their throat behind him, jerking suddenly and spinning to face Malia, who was holding a bag out towards him

"O-Oh, thanks," he muttered, taking the bag and waiting expectingly for something else

"Where's my coke?"

"Here," Lydia replied briskly, handing him the styrofoam cup as she passed by

"You're lucky atleast someone listens to you," she called as she got into the car

Stiles sighed, turning to see that Malia had already left and rolling his eyes

"You know what? Nevermind, I'm not gonna miss them at all, I'm just going to focus all of my energy on the love of my life, the one person who will never do me wrong, who's going to stick around for the rest of-"

Upon turning around, he found that Derek, too, had already gone back to his car

"I hate these people,"

Distantly, Stiles heard the sound of ice sloshing in a drink and liquid spilling out onto a hard surface with a quiet "Ooops..." following behind

"I really hate these people,"

 

~+~

 

Stiles was legitimately surprised that they had managed to make it to the hotel in one peice

Well, and with decent time that is...

Don't get him wrong, the car trip wouldn't be what he would call "fun" or "easy" or "not making him regret his life choices every five miles" but he LIVED and that was the important thing

(He was legitimately going to switch cars with Derek on the drive back, that was for sure, he would PAY Derek if he had to)

"What the hell is THAT?"

Oh great, that was just what he needed to hear

Turning around, he saw a perturbed looking Erica practically glaring at Kira, who was holding a little stuffed bear with a Disneyland t-shirt on it

"Derek bought us souvenirs at that last gas station we stopped at," the kitsune chirped unsuspectingly

Erica turned towards Stiles, a mix of shock, horror, and anger on her face

"Derek bought them souvenirs!"

"That was nice of him," Stiles replied briskly, adjusting his bag over his shoulder as he walked towards the elevator

"Why didn't you let us get souvenirs?"

"It was a _gas station_ Erica, besides I was more concerned with rubbing the Slush Puppy remains out of the backseat,"

Twice

These idiots had spilled liquids in the rental car _twice_

"But still!!"

"You are LITERALLY going to Disneyland in a few days, I'm sure they'll have plenty of overpriced teddy bears in Disneyland t-shirts there,"

Erica deflated, huffing and crossing her arms over her chest as Stiles made his way towards the elevator that Derek was currently occupying

"Jeez, who knew _Derek_ would be driving the fun car,"

He paused, eye twitching and body tense as he stepped into the elevator

He had half a mind to turn around and start screaming but the door closed before he could get the chance

"Seriously Hale!? You bought them _gas station souvenirs_!?"

It probably wasn't Derek's fault that Stiles was wound tighter than a ten cent watch and way past his limit of how much frustration he could handle in a seven hour period but that wasn't going to stop Stiles from releasing a little tension

"It was that or Slush Puppies and I already knew how _that_ experiment ended,"

So Derek was just trying to protect his rental car- fine, Stiles could respect that, but he still came off looking like the uptight one in the situation and he hated it

"Don't stress, you can let them gorge themselves on cotton candy at Disneyland and then you'll occupy the beautifull three-tiered stand of 'I was nice and gave you what you wanted', 'I told you so', and- best of all, when the sugar wears off- the moral highground for whatever stupid things they did when they were in a cotton candy coma,"

Stiles gave a quiet sigh, leaning against the back of the elevator and rubbing his eyes

"Does it ever occur to you that we talk about them like we're their parents?"

"I'm the Alpha- well... one of the Alphas- so I might as well be, Alphas often act like parents to their betas, in and out of proper pack structures, so it isn't actually uncommon, even Scott gets a little parenty with his betas from time to time, and I think the only reason he doesn't do it more often is just because he's so extremely young, trust me, give it another three or four years and he'll be handing out curfews and telling them they're grounded,"

"Ok, but what's _my_ excuse?" Stiles frowned back

"You're a White Stag, you're naturally paternal, it's _literally_ part of your DNA to fuss over people, don't put too much thought into it- seriously, _don't_ , you'll just depress yourself,"

"I take it you know from experience?"

"The first time I told Erica to put her shoes at the door where they belonged I spent three hours staring at the ceiling wondering what I was doing with my life,"

Stiles just snorted, grabbing his duffle bag from the floor as the elevator door opened and he stepped out

"Well, atleast this is practice for when we _actually_ have kids, we both have experience raising teenagers now so how much harder can it be?"

"Don't ever ask an actual parent that," Derek teased as he followed

Stiles heaved a quiet breath of releif, leaning into Derek's space and feeling the stress peel off of him

Derek had a nack for that, helping him feel more at ease, more _anchored_....

And it wasn't that Stiles really minded being "The Mom Freind"- he had ALWAYS been "The Mom Freind" even before he had a pack, he distinctly remembered chasing around kids in third grade who wandered away during a feild trip and screaming at them to "Stick with the herd" and he hadn't cared who teased him for it

Stiles was a caretaker at heart, maybe not in the "Let me brush your hair and make sure all of your clothes are folded neatly" way that most people thought of when they thought of the word "caretaker" but more in the way that....

He needed to feel needed, he always had, he always would, and having a pack to look after fulfilled that need- wich was part of why he had so much anxiety over all of them splitting off and going to college in a few months....

And besides that, Stiles was short-tempered and particular with the way he liked things in his life, half of the time his screeching at people had nothing to do with trying to benefit them and was _entirely_ about not wanting his own personal tendencies disrupted

"You know, you're really going to be the one to suffer most when they go to college," Stiles mused abruptly as he fished the key card out of his wallet

"And how is that?"

"Right now my attention span is spread thin between sixteen people, but when it comes down to just like... three... I am going to watch you like a **_hawk_** , just ask Scott what I did to him when before he became a werewolf, I practically tortured him! Not to mention my dad, I used to watch every bite of food that went into his mouth but now I'm just down to basic monitoring, he's about to be in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can keep sneaking bacon cheeseburgers once August hits,"

"You know, it's funny, I actually HAVE talked to Scott about what things were like before all of... _this_ ," Derek mused, crossing his arms over his chest as Stiles pressed the key into the door and opened it for them

"Oh yeah? What'd he say? That I smothered him? Hovered? Acted like a jealous, clingy, lemur who wouldn't let him breathe for five seconds because I was always _momming_ him?"

"No.... he said that you always kept an extra inhaler for him, kept copies of doctors notes in your locker to give the gym coach when he was having a bad asthma day, and once punched a football player twice your size in the jaw for taking his lunch money, you _protected_ him Stiles, you _took care_ of him and he appreciates that- in his own way, when someone gives you a hard time for being a good freind think about _that_ instead of Slush Puppies and souvenir teddy bears,"

Stiles.... didn't know what to do with that

No one had ever actually _appreciated_ his need to take care of people before, they always just found it annoying or at the very most quietly put up with it out of kindness

He was used to his father rolling his eyes everytime Stiles tried to remind him to keep his cholesterol down and Scott giving him the tired "Are we really talking about this again?" look whenever he tried to force Scott to need him for something and Lydia being five steps ahead of him everytime he thought he finally had a way to help her with her banshee powers...

He wasn't used to _this_

"And for the record," Derek added, setting his own duffle bag on the floor and leaning closer to nip Stiles' ear

"I _look forward_ to being 'tortured' by you, your tortured methods sound alot more like _coddling_ if you ask me,"

Stiles dropped his bag, face turning crimson as Derek casually walked off to do.... Stiles wasn't even sure what

Sadly, he didn't get the chance to find out either, the second he snapped to and started looking for his boyfreind the second door to the room opened and Isaac poked his head, a devious grin on his face

"Oh God we haven't even been here for ten minutes yet and you're already coming over here... why the HELL did I let Derek talk me into adjoining rooms?" Stiles huffed

Isaac didn't seem at all bothered by that, still looking like a cat who had just seen a mouse scuttle by

"Erica found something amazing,"

"I'm sure," Stiles spat blandly

Without any kind of preface or context, Isaac simply pressed play on the video he had pulled up on his phone, smirked like the devil spawn he was, and held the phone towards Stiles

And then, in a moment that Stiles felt must have come straight out of a sitcom, "The Mom Song" began to play

If the crowd of snickers and giggles coming from the room adjoined to their's had anything to say about it, Isaac was clearly not in this little endeavor by himself, though Stiles was almost entirely certain that he and Erica were the ringleaders

The truly sad part of all of this was that the video actually _was_ pretty funny, but Stiles was too busy trying to look stone-faced and mildly annoyed to let himself enjoy it

"Are you finished?" he asked calmly the second the video ended

Isaac snorted, as if that was his comeback, and Stiles reached out, taking the phone without another word and tossing it over his shoulder

"What the hell?" Isaac huffed, clearly not having been expecting that

"Your phone is my phone now, that's what," he argued back

There was a tense moment where Isaac looked like he was about to bolt after it before the realization apparently dawned on him that Derek was currently in the bathroom putting their travel toiletries away and had possession of the phone already

"...Derek? Can I have that back?" he called

"Nope," Derek replied simply

There was no further explanation needed

Isaac may have the majority of the pack on his side but Stiles had _Derek_ on his and Derek obviously trumped the rest of them

"This isn't over," Isaac threatened as he skulked back to his room and slammed the door

And Stiles....

Well, mostly, Stiles felt incredibly proud

"You know he's just going to come back for this when you have your back turned right?" Derek asked as he stepped out of the bathroom and waved the phone at Stiles before ultimately tossing it over to the Stag

"Not when I wrap my underwear around it he won't, he'll get it back when I say he can get it back," Stiles replied defiantly, marching over to his duffle back and jerking the zipper open

"You know, for someone so paternal you sure are immature,"

"I know, that's what makes me special,"

 

~+~

 

The one GOOD thing about all of the hell they had gone through to get over here early on was that now they could all go swimming in the huge hotel pool wile it was still fairly sunny out, and Stiles was almost _desperate_ for that

He didn't care too much for swimming in general, he had had plenty of bad experiences with water- and pools- to be off swimming for life, but the promise of having a couple of hours to just relax and not have to deal with things or _people_ was a promise that sounded all too good to be true

....

And that's because it was

"We were supposed to bring swimsuits?"

Somebody needed to just kill Stiles before this day got any worse

"Liam, I've literally said it six times, I sent you FOUR reminder emails on everything you needed to bring, did you even read them?"

".... I skimmed them...."

"Well much like Scott Pilgrim skimming isn't going to cut it- just.... were you even listening either of the times I told you verbally?"

"Depends on when it was?"

A solid "no" on that one then

Stiles heaved a sigh, scrubbing his hand down his face and staring at the wall

"Ok, ok, fine, you can borrow mine, I'll just tan myself in some shorts or something,"

A bad idea really, Stiles burned like an overcooked egg in even remote sunlight but it was better than any alternative that he could think of

"Thanks," Liam said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as Stiles tossed his swimsuit at Liam's face and stalked back into his room

"You know, we could always just stay here in the room wile everyone else goes to the pool," Derek offered

"No, I want to be outside, I'll just get annoyed if I stay up here, plus the next two days we'll be mostly indoors," Stiles sighed back, burying his face in his pillow and inhaling deeply, trying to channel a calming breath

And then, because every force in the universe hated him-

_"Stiles..... these don't fit....."_

Stiles jerked his head up, practically fuming as he scrambled to turn towards the closed door

"I freaking KNOW those are not too small for you Liam!"

_"No.... they're too BIG, why is there this much room in the front!?"_

Before Stiles could even _try_ -

_"Ohhhh no wonder Derek can't keep his hands off of him,"_

"I am going to MURDER you Erica!!!"

"Get your suit back from Liam first," Derek replied blandly as he yanked his own shorts out of his duffle bag and stepped into the bathroom to change

 

~+~

 

Stiles wasn't even sure how this had happened

One minute he was reluctantly offering to take Liam to Walmart to get a swimsuit, the next thing he knew he had four other people tagging along just for the hell of it

Kira wanted to get one of those foam pool noodles to float on

Parrish forgot sunscreen- and no amount of telling him that Hellhounds most likely couldn't get sunburned was going to detour him from his opinion that he needed it-

Cora's sunglasses had broken on her way here and she insisted on getting a new pair (and refused to tell Stiles how they broke in the first place)

And Mason just wanted to explore _everything_ so he came along for the ride- no matter how many times Stiles told him that this Walmart couldn't possibly be that different from the dozens that populated Beacon Hills

To make matters worse, when he had given the "This is the only time I'm leaving this hotel for the next three days so if you want something you'd better freaking say it" speech, Allison had innocently voted for popsicles

What happened next was what Stiles could only describe as a screaming contest for ice cream flavors and no amount of telling them that he wasn't going to haul ice cream back here in this heat with no freezer in the hotel was going to detour them from the goal

Even Derek was powerless to make it stop

So now here he was, standing in the freezer aisle at Walmart, glaring so hard at the ice cream that he wondered if he was actually using lazer vision

"Are you ok?"

Stiles looked up, glancing at Kira- who was innocently hugging her purple pool noodle and pouting at him like he had a rain cloud over his head- and feeling some of his frustration simmer down

Kira didn't have a malicious or even mildly mean-spirited or selfish bone in her entire body and he always found it kind of impossibly hard to be in a bad mood with her around

"Yeah just... trying to figure out how I'm supposed to get all of this ice cream back to those idiots without it melting... and how to, you know, NOT buy sixteen different pints here because no one can freaking agree on anything..."

Kira was quiet for a moment, swaying on her feet before her eyes lit up and she pointed to the very bottom shelf

And Stiles saw _exactly_ what she was pointing at

"Those should work!! And any flavors they don't have in those you could probably find in a bar or a sandwich of some kind,"

"Kira, I literally love you, you're my favorite- you can tell EVERYONE that you're my favorite," he said with a releived huff, giving her a greatfull hug and finally starting to feel like he wasn't _actually_ babysitting a bunch of children for the first time that day

Ofcourse, all good things had to come to an end

_"Stiles... none of these fit!"_

 

~+~

 

Eventually they DID find something that would fit Liam

Parrish got his extra strength sunscreen- no matter how many times Stiles tried to insist that it was useless-

Cora found sunglasses that she deemed decent enough to protect her sensitive werewolf vision

Stiles insisted on buying Kira's pool noodles for her (two of them at that) for being the only mature person he had ever met in his entire life

And Mason had found an ankle bracelet that he was going to give to Corey

(Stiles was just going to let him make that mistake on his own because he was tired of having to be the voice of reason and he knew for a fact that ankle bracelets would never last long)

Now they were back at the hotel, finally at the pool, and everything was actually... calm for once

Everyone accepted the tiny cups of ice cream Kira had found- though some of them grumbled about it- and now Stiles was just relaxing in the shallow end of the pool, arms on the concrete edge of the structure and resting his head peacefully as he let the water splash across his skin

He fully intended to engage in water gun wars and pool-volleyball and stuff later but right now he just wanted five minutes to himself

"Not to bother you,"

No

No no no dear God no not his five minutes!!!

"But Liam is about to jump off the edge of the waterslide,"

Slowly, Stiles lifted his head and glared at Lydia as she floated peacefully by on her high-end raft, not even having the curtosy to look at him as she ruined his life

"And why are you telling ME this? There are literally two Alphas here, neither of them are me,"

"Derek is teaching Malia to swim,"

"So? Go tell Scott! He's Liam's Wolf Dad anyway,"

"Scott and Kira snuck off twenty minutes ago and personally I _don't_ want to be the one to find them,"

"And YOU can't straighten out this problem because....?"

All it took was Lydia tilting her sunglasses down and staring at him before Stiles grumbled under his breath, hauled himself out of the water, and stomped towards the waterslide

"Liam get the hell down from there before I start screaming!"

Technically, he was already screaming, but he could definitely get worse

And Liam was deciding to take the _super_ mature route here and pretend like he couldn't hear him

"Liam Dunbar I know you hear me up there!!! If you don't acknowledge me in the next five seconds your phone is going to end up like Isaac's!"

He knew there were people staring at him right about now, he could FEEL it, but if anything that just fueled him even more to get his way

"I'm not doing anything!" Liam shouted back

"Don't LIE to me! Have you ever known anyone in the history of the earth who could LIE to me and get away with it!?"

He knew that Liam knew he had a point

Part of being a Stag was intuition and a heightened sense of judgement- so he could sniff out a liar sooner than a werewolf could

"I'll be down in a minute!" Liam attempted

"I swear to GOD if you jump off of that slide I'm going to tell Scott to ground you until you're eighty!! Don't make me threaten you with bodily harm in front of other people!"

Slowly, he could see Liam climbing down from the water slide- apparently less interested in actually using it for it's intended purpose- and making his way back to Stiles

"It's not like it would have hurt me,"

"You don't know that- and what if you had landed on someone and hurt THEM?"

"But.... Isaac did it...."

"If Isaac jumped off a cliff would you do that too?"

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that,"

Stiles spun around on his heels, glaring at a smirking Isaac as the beta swam past him

"That's it, I'm telling Scott,"

He didn't care if Scott was in the middle of making out or having sex or getting married or anything else- these ... these.... RUGRATS weren't his responsibility and he was tired of being the only one to discipline them!

(Just a few days ago Lydia had quipped that Stiles needed to just marry Derek already so he could have some kids to take care of instead of chasing after them all the time, he was starting to think she wasn't kidding)

 

~+~

 

"Make sure you order something GREEN to go with all of the crap these little crapsacks want ok Derek?"

How they had come to the unspoken decision that Derek would be the one ordering room service for everyone when he was one of the least social people of the bunch was entirely beyond him but there he was, double-checking the order list obediently

"Stiles, you know I can take care of this myself right?" Allison said gently

"You stepped on _glass_ Allison! I'm not going to let you do this yourself, you could miss something! Honestly, the nerve of people, leaving their trash all over the place, what if it had been some poor kid who stepped on it? Or worse some poor little animal!? What if some bird or something had EATEN it!?"

"I'm pretty sure a bird wouldn't try to eat a broken beer bottle Stiles..."

"It COULD have! I'm gonna tell somebody at this hotel about that, mark my words,"

Allison heaved a quiet sighed as she leaned back, but atleast she had expressed her appreciation for this ahead of time

"I just wish Stags had some kind of healing ability," Stiles grumbled as he gently wrapped the bandage upwards, covering her ankle as he started looking for the pin to clip it in place

"I know, but this is good, I promise, it's alot better than most people would've gotten,"

And for some strange reason, that actually made him feel a little better....

And then he heard the distinct sound of fighting and he was ready to throw himself out a window again

"Whoever is screaming right now needs to STOP,"

_"Boyd took my Doritos!"_

_"I did not, they were MY Doritos Malia,"_

_"I JUST bought them from the vending machine!!"_ "

_"I brought these with me,"_

"ENOUGH!"

_"He started it!"_

"I don't care who started it, I'll FINISH it! I swear to GOD don't make me come in there!"

_"But-!"_

Then there was the sound of a bag being tossed across the room, a quiet "Oh", and Malia meekly admitting

_"Hayden found my chips..."_

"What do we say?"

_"......Sorry........."_

Stiles didn't know if he was relieved that it was over, or just entirely too frustrated that it had even existed in the first place

"You ok?" Allison asked sympathetically

"Yeah just... could you do me a favor Ally?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Could you just stab one of your arrows through my ears? _Please_?"

He took the gentle patting of his head as a resounding "No"

 

~+~

 

"You will NEVER believe what we found,"

Stiles looked up, eyebrows raised as he watched Hayden slam a can that read "Werewolf Biscuits" in front of him

"I thought we agreed no Dealer's Room until after breakfast,"

"That's not the point, I can't believe they make these! Derek are these real?"

"They're real," Derek replied dryly, not even bothering to look up from his eggs

They had decided to take part in the free breakfast buffet the convention had instead of getting more room service- because hey, _free_

"What do they taste like?" Liam asked curiously, sitting down next to Stiles

"Like any other cookie, they're just shortbread cookies really," Cora shrugged back

"Then why are they marked for werewolves?"

"Because they also have vitamins in them that are geared towards our biology, they're basically a werewolf parent's sneaky way of getting their kids to take vitamins- vitamins that are actually usefull to werewolves that is, we don't really need the kind humans take," Derek answered with a shrug of his own

Before Liam or Hayden could say anything Stiles had already grabbed the can, tore the lid off, and was dispensing cookies onto everyone's plates- well, all of the werewolves anyway-

"Do they work for kitsune and hellhounds too?" Stiles asked curiously

"No, just wolves, I think kitsune crackers are a thing though,"

If Stiles didn't know Derek better he would think he was kidding

"Ohh those sound good... I"d love to try those!" Kira smiled positively

"We'll be on the look out for them," Stiles answered calmly, setting the can back on the table in front of a very annoyed looking Liam

"So is there a place we can get this stuff online or...?"

"Not that I know of, remember, internet stores weren't that popular when I was a kid, we can ask the vendors though, I'm sure they have websites,"

Stiles nodded slowly, taking that into consideration as he took a peice of bacon off of his plate to nibble on

"What's on my plate?"

Scott's mildly horrified voice could only be referring to the fact that he had come back to the table and found the slight change Stiles had made to his breakfast

"A spinach and kale quiche,"

"Gross.... dude what the hell?"

"You need to start putting green things in your diet Scotty and green gummy bears are not acceptable,"

"I eat green things..." Scott pouted defensively as he slowly sat down next to Liam

"Name one vegetable you've had in the last three days and I'll toss the quiche out a window,"

Scott thought about that

... And thought.....

And thought......

..... And thought.....

"I'm a werewolf Stiles, I don't need vegetables,"

Derek, apparently, couldn't restrain a laugh as he nearly choked on his omelette

"Oh Scotty, please don't make me lecture you about werewolf health,"

"Stiles I'm serious,"

"So am I! Even werewolves can't live off of a diet of crap and be healthy!"

"Stiles.... I'm going to college soon, you can't watch out for me forever..."

"And that's EXACTLY what I'm worried about and EXACTLY why I'm trying to train you to take care of yourself NOW before it's too late, you are too old to act this way Scott- you're going to be a VET, ok? You can't keep pretending that you can eat like a teenager who's parents are out for the weekend,"

Scott picked up the quiche- with his thumb and index finger, like was picking up a dead animal- and put it on Stiles' plate

Stiles, eyes narrowed, picked it up and put it on Liam's plate instead

Liam looked utterly offended

"Why are you punishing me!? I'm not part of this!"

"Because you're still trapped in Beacon Hills for the next year and I'm going to train you better so you don't take after your werewolf-dad, and YOU- Scott McCall- are going to eat vegetables if I have to run it through an IV in your arm,"

Scott just looked like a scolded puppy, staring at Stiles silently as if that was going to make him back off

(And to his credit, it usually did, Stiles had no constitution when it came to puppy eyes)

"Don't look at me like that, I'm going to teach you to eat healthy,"

"Didn't you eat a triple double cheeseburger two days ago?" Boyd piped up from across the table

"Yeah, yeah I did because I'd been eating SALADS and casseroles and other gross stuff for three days because my dad was home during dinner and I had to set a good example,"

"To be fair, I've been trying to make him eat the food you bring him," Parrish piped up

"And by 'trying' you mean 'failing' don't you Parrish?"

The deputy shrank, hanging his head

"That's ok though, atleast you're trying, that's all that matters,"

Well not really but it wasn't Parrish's fault that the troubled soul in question was his boss and he was toeing the line of what could get him fired- or atleast, more realistically, on desk duty- by trying to control the sheriff's eating habits

"Stiles, you're exaggerating," Scott frowned

"I am NOT exaggerating Scott, you don't seem to understand that no matter what your species is you have to take care of your body, wich means putting HEALTHY food in i- don't roll your eyes at me!!"

Derek gave a sigh, shaking his head slowly

The table had practically erupted into chaos....

And then there was a wistle

Low and loud and obnoxious that made them freeze in their bickering and turn their attention to the strangers in front of them

Vampires....

A group of three of them, with one clearly the leader

They all looked like they had walked right out of some Hollywood vampire movie, decked with leather and dangerous smirks, and Derek's fangs were growing out before they had even spoken

"And here we were looking forward to meeting the Beacon Hills pack.... I would give you all a name but I don't know who's in charge anymore, it was the Hales, then it was some True Alpha kid, then it was both... but now it looks like it's the skinny human over there,"

Stiles looked up, a glare in his eyes as he turned his attention towards the vampires

"Derek and Scott are the Alphas," he said lowly

"Some Alphas letting you boss them around, I'd heard so many dangerous things about this pack too... that you've got a kitsune, a banshee, even a hellhound... but you're all just a bunch of kids, except for the hellhound and Hale ofcourse but.... they might as well be,"

Derek growled low in his throat, only backing down when he felt Cora reach over and squeeze his arm

Vampires were not a species to tussle with

Not that werewolves COULDN'T beat them but it'd be a bloody affair even if they did, and besides, this convention was far from the time or place to be brawling with anyone

They were supposed to be making allies here, not enemies

"Yeah well these 'kids' have gotten rid of psycho hunters, darachs, Alpha packs, nogitsune, hitmen, berserkers, parascientists, chimeras, and the freaking Wild Hunt, what have YOU done in the last three years?"

"The last three YEARS don't really matter when you've lived three CENTURIES," the head vampire replied

"So you're old, what, does that mean you get a senior discount or something?" Stiles quipped, taking a step closer

"You think you're funny don't you? Ya' know, I'm getting REAL sick of your big mouth kid, and I thought the mutts would be the ones smarting off to me,"

Malia, distantly, from the other end of the table, snorted

"You're stupid," she mused casually

The vampire didn't even have time to ask what she was talking about, Stiles was in front of him in a matter of seconds, glaring murderously

"Say that again, go ahead, I dare you," Stiles sneered

The vampire seemed slightly unnerved, but not enough to back off

"What the hell is your problem kid!?"

"My problem is that you clearly haven't heard of the latest addition to our pack," he replied coldly, his eyes turning bright, icy silver as he stared the vampire down

The stranger realized his mistake too late, already falling to the ground with his "associates" right behind him, all on their nees and staring up at Stiles in horror

"What the hell are you!?" the vampire gasped out

Stiles was quiet, eyes practically glowing as the shadow behind him shifted to grow a heavy set of antlers from it's head

"Holy hell.... back off Johnny! He's a White Stag!! Don't you know what that is!?" the female vampire behind the leader shouted

"I think if he knew what I was he would have been smarter than to provoke me," Stiles replied simply, lips curving up into a snarl as his teeth started shifting into rows of fangs, voice becoming distorted and almost other-worldly as he spoke

"Leave. My pack. ALONE. GO!"

The vampires- finally released from the invisible force holding them down- ran as fast as they could out of the room as Stiles shifted back to normal, heading casually back to the table and grabbing the small wad of fabric he had left in his chair before walking over to Lydia and draping it over her shoulders

"How do you have my sweater?"

"I snuck into your house before we left and packed it, I don't know why you don't keep it with you, you always get cold even when it's scalding outside," he replied simply, going back to his seat and picking up his bacon again

Everyone was quiet for a few moments, not sure how to process what had just happened

Not everyone had even seen Stiles' powers in action before, they just knew of it from what little he told them, and it was something of a shell-shocker to see up close

For others, it was easy to forget that Stiles- who looked so ... unassuming... compared to everyone else- was actually as powerfull as he was

But that wasn't really why they were quiet

Stiles, above all of them, hadn't wasted a single split second in jumping in to defend the entire pack when someone came around with malicious intent

Most of them had been giving him greif the last two days for being so overprotective, but it was his over-protectiveness that had gotten rid of the latest threat without anyone getting hurt- or even breaking a sweat

It was something akin to ice in the face, recognizing that his over-protectiveness wasn't as unfounded as they tried to make it out to be

Slowly, head bowed, Scott took the quiche off of Liam's plate, put it back on his own, and everything returned to normal

 

~+~

 

"I can't believe we actually recruited people,"

"We didn't 'recruit' anyone Stiles, some people wanted to meet us, that was all," Derek yawned back, snuggling against his boyfreind's shoulder

"Yeah and they met us and asked us to consider letting them be in our pack, that's kind of enormous,"

"They said they were moving to Beacon Hills anyway,"

"Derek that isn't the point, I'm excited here! Be excited with me! For once someone is interested in our pack without intending to destroy it! These are GOOD people, I can feel it, and how often do we meet anyone GOOD?"

"You're right, I'm excited- exhausted, but excited.... you sure they understood when we warned them about Beacon Hills?"

"They seemed pretty determined," Stiles answered with a yawn of his own

A clap of thunder roared outside, Derek wimpering and curling a little closer as Stiles stroked his hair

Werewolves hated storms- the thunder hurt their sensitive ears and made them anxious

Stiles, on the other hand, loved storms, so he didn't at all mind that Derek used him as a sheild against the evil rain and thunder

He was just starting to drift off to sleep when the door to the adjacent room cracked open and he could feel the annoyance starting to creep into his mind

"Whatever it is, hash it out in the morning," he grumbled

"Can we sleep in here? The thunder is upsetting... certain... people..." Malia said meekly from the doorway

"Sure," Stiles sighed, assuming that 'we' meant Malia and maybe Isaac

He wasn't expecting fourteen people to crowd into his space all of a sudden

Puppy piles weren't _entirely_ new but they had only happened twice before- both by accident- and Stiles still wasn't really sure what to do with the experience

But....

Everyone seemed pretty content to curl up on and around him like some kind of sheild against the thunder, having brought their pillows and blankets with them, and luckily they didn't try to ACTUALLY climb into his and Derek's bed (mostly) so that was a plus right?

Another clap of thunder roared, a few wimpers came and Stiles suddenly found his dangling arm kidnapped by atleast two wolves as another three pressed up against the side of the bed where his leg was almost dangling

It was ... oddly cozy

And one thing was made very, very clear in this span of time: They needed him

Weather they actually, PHYSICALLY needed him or not was still in question but... for now, like this... they needed him

And Stiles _loved_ being needed


End file.
